A U.S. hedge fund has acquired about 19% of Postmedia Network Canada Corp.’s common shares, a stake that makes it the second largest shareholder of the Toronto-based publishing company.

Silver Point Capital LP, an investment firm based in Greenwich, CT, disclosed its ownership of 7.4 million Class B shares in an Oct. 10 filing.

Postmedia is Canada’s largest publisher of English-language daily newspapers, including the National Post, while Silver Point is a $10-billion fund focused on distressed assets and memorably took a stake in Twinkie maker Hostess Brands Inc. last year.

Silver Point stated in the filing that it acquired the shares “for investment purposes only and not with a view to influencing the control or direction of Postmedia.”

Ontario securities rules mandate disclosure of a stake of more than 10% of a company’s shares.

A spokesman for Silver Point did not comment on its plans for the investment Thursday.

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Doug Lamb, chief financial officer of Postmedia, said in an interview Thursday that Silver Point had expressed interest in the company before taking the stake but Postmedia was not aware of its exact plans.

“Their indication to us has been that they see value in the company,” he said. “I think they look at it and say, ‘There’s an interesting story here, good value in our view, and we’re here to be constructive.’”

Mr. Lamb said he believes the firm’s interest came in part from their view that the U.S. newspaper industry has begun to hit a bottom and is starting to show signs of recovery.

“A perception that seems to be particularly strong in the investment community is that U.S. newspapers have seen the worst of it now. They’ve been through eight years of this kind of decline but things are starting to stabilize and circulation revenue in many cases is growing down there and I think it’s put a renewed interest on the sector.”

Silver Point is now the second largest owner of Postmedia’s common shares, behind New York City-based GoldenTree Asset Management LP, which held about 35% as of its last public disclosure on March 4.

Other investors with large holdings include Invesco Ltd., Citibank Canada and Alden Global Capital, all of which have stakes in the range of 8% to 9%, according to filings tracked by Bloomberg. TD Asset Management Inc. and First Eagle Investment Management hold about 4.4% and 3.8%, respectively.

In 2011 the company moved to a dual-class share structure, giving voting control to its Canadian owners to maintain its status as a Canadian publisher, which gives advertisers a tax advantage.

Last week, Postmedia announced it was amending its by-laws to require advanced notice of nomination of board members. Such tools are increasingly common among Canadian companies to prevent stealth proxy contests.

Postmedia also reported fourth-quarter results last week, posting a net loss of $35.8-million, down from a loss of $28.4-million one year earlier. Declining advertising revenue, a persistent issue for the publishing industry as a whole, remains problematic for the chain of newspapers.

Postmedia is in the midst of a broad cost-cutting program intended to cut 15% to 20% out of its operating costs over three years. By Aug. 31, it had cut $82-million in annualized costs since implementing the program.

The company is selling real estate and outsourcing and centralizing parts of its operations in order to pay down its long-term debt, which stood at $474-million at the end of the fourth quarter.

Postmedia’s B-class shares closed Thursday up about 11% at $2.00 each on the TSX.